Just one week after the Geneva Agreement on Iran’s nuclear
program, major carmakers and parts suppliers have shown up in Tehran to assess
the Iranian market's potential.
The International Conference of the Automotive Industry, the first such event in Iran, has brought together more than 150 companies from around the globe. The conference opened on Saturday in Tehran. The industry has been battered for more than a year by sanctions.
The International Conference of the Automotive Industry, the first such event in Iran, has brought together more than 150 companies from around the globe. The conference opened on Saturday in Tehran. The industry has been battered for more than a year by sanctions.
Iran’s Industry and Commerce Minister Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh
told reporters at the site of the Conference that he wanted ”more cooperation
with foreign companies,” including French manufacturers Peugeot and Renault,
both of which have had a long history of doing business with Iran. Mr
Nematzadeh added he hoped for the lifting of sanctions on the car industry “by
the end of December.” (AFP, 1 December)
Prior to the most severe sanctions imposed on Iran in 2011, the
country had the 11th-largest car market in the world and was the 13th-largest
car producer.
Patrick Blain, president of the International Organization of
Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, told AFP of the “considerable potential” in the
Iranian market. “There is no reason not to come back,” he said. Blain highlighted
the low car saturation rate of 89 vehicles per 1000 people, less than China, in
a country with a population of nearly 77 million. (AFP, 1 December)
Photo credit: A
newly-manufactured automobile called TIBA 2 is displayed during an
International Auto Conference in Tehran, Iran, on 30 November 2013. (Ahmad
Halabisaz/Xinhua)
The sanction exposed the soft belly of the Iranian automobile industry - a sobering experience for many Iranians when they realized that all that talk about the ‘indigenous (boomi) automobile industry’ was just hot air. I hope they have learned their lessons, and this time aim for a better joint venture involving real transfer of technology and know-how. The current peugeot/renault ventures are like opium to the Iranian motor industry which get them addicted in buying the end-of-life models in kit form that no one in the developed world would buy.
ReplyDeleteONE of the most noble gifts any establishment can give to its people is -offering the environment for the people to trust their own skills .It is for this reason that i can't buy your argument that ,the initiative to realize an indigenous automobile industry 'was hot air'.
DeleteI do agree however that the sanctions exposed the soft belly of the Iranian automobile just as it is true lessons were learned.However the truth is that Iran is currently at a point where the Arabs kingdoms will only dream for decades to come despite having asses to western technology and market. With the Donkey [US]-showing some real zeal to toss the self inflicted burden of sanction [that threatens to break its back] ,We are looking forward to seeing a robust economy in the middle east in a span of a few years ,thanks to these noble initiatives by the establishment !.
you was never im irqan ?
Deleteunder heavy sanction the irqan was able to produce own designed car, as you see the Saipa-Tipa in picture above.
however the demand is too large that without import and foreign car maker can be fullfilled.
In future iran needs to produce all automotive components in country,I think iran should look for better deals and partners elsewhere than the west,the europeans have shown just how untrustworthy they were
ReplyDelete"the europeans have shown just how untrustworthy they were"
DeleteSo it took you your whole life to figure this out? What a genius!
West, east, black, white, oriental, etc. are in the game for their own personal gains and couldn't give a hoot about Iranian people. Only Iranians can defend the rights of our nations but I am afraid such individuals that will put their NATION before their own greed are to put it politely non existent in the IRI government.
Iran needs a lot of things but it won't get them so long as aterrorist mafia regime runs the country.
DeleteAnonymousDecember 2, 2013 at 1:02 AM
DeleteActually,iran had decades of good business relations with europe,which made their decision to cut their own throats at a time when they needed every bit of trade they could get all the more surprising and sad,and I imagine even if trade between iran and the eu is reestablished it will not be to its former levels and there will never again be that level of trust by iran
It also exposed what a bunch of bull shitters the regime are when they said that Iran is,"independent".
ReplyDeleteThat's the status of Iranian car market:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.focus2move.com/component/k2/item/1007-iran-automotive-industry-outlook-november-2013